Posted on 10/26/2001 4:04:38 PM PDT by randita
ABC Radio News just reported that the coating on anthrax spores found in Sen. Daschle's office was the coating used by Iraq. Nothing further.
Well, Welch's makes a GREAT growth medium...
First of all I was confused about the mineral itself, and second I did not know that this was being reported in the press and on TV.
I still stick to my view that Bentonite does not look to me like a dispersal agent.
It's been reported that the genetic strain is "Ames, Iowa" strain that is common in research and widely distributed.
Iraq's seed stock is of this strain. I heard that the Ex-Soviet Union's was also.
A forensic scientist on a FOX program said that a genetic identification of the strain would not alone be sufficient to establish the origin of a particular batch, but that any evidence of processing, refining, additives and modification could give clues as to it's origin.
Several things may be involved here. One, the charade played by Israel and the US the last few weeks is beginning to be untenable. You can run a smoke-and-mirrors game only for a limited time before people get suspicious. Two, there may be hard evidence that Pakistan's nukes are not actually under firm and sensible control. Three, the rumours about bin Laden being dead may actually be true and the Afghan bit done except for the mopping-up.
So, time to move to the next target in line.
The Washington Post reported yesterday that the spores in the Daschle letter had been treated with a chemical additive using technology so sophisticated that it almost certainly came from the United States, Iraq or the former Soviet Union. A government official with direct knowledge of the investigation has said that the totality of the evidence so far suggests it is unlikely the spores were originally produced in the former Soviet Union or Iraq.
BTW, what was your point about bentonite in the first place?
Bentonite: an absoptive and colloidal clay used esp. as a sealing agent or carrier (as of drugs)
Colloid: (2nd def.) a substance that consists of particles dispersed throughout another substance which are too small for resolution with semipermeable membrane ~ a mixture consisting of a colloid together with the medium in which it is dispersed
On the "smart" scale, I think he is pretty much near the low end. He is able to regurgitate other's rhetoric over and over, but I haven't seen any evidence of any critical thinking on his part.
I have also gone on record here on FR saying that we should have nuked Baghdad on September 12th. (Just my opinion based upon my limited knowledge and research.)
But the fact is, we have 200+million justifiably-enraged Americans looking for someone or somecountry to blame for the attack on America. We want to make them pay. In some ways, we are like a pitchfork-and-torch-carrying mob looking for a victim.
This is a dangerous situation for the freedom-loving among us.
I am very, very suspicious of these government-issued "news releases" which blame a certain country or a certain person for what has happened. I have never been convinced that someone named "Osama bin Laden" is the mastermind behind these attacks. IMO, he is just a focus point - "The Evil One" - for American's hatred, just as the Jews were for Hitler. If and when he is killed, we will find that nothing much has changed.
If the government knows that Iraq provided the Anthrax [they probably did] - then just deal with them appropriately with a small nuclear device. Simple.
But when I see "concensus building" going on in the media, I get suspicious.
Not that I don't trust a government with unlimited powers or anything...
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